While he may have had an inkling in recent years, not even Steven Pearl knew that his dad was going to officially step down at Auburn until the day before their first practice this fall.
But now, several weeks after Bruce Pearl officially retired from the Tigers, the younger Pearl is settling into his new role leading the program.
[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]
Bruce spent 11 seasons at Auburn, and he undoubtedly helped turn the longtime football school into a basketball powerhouse in the SEC. He led the team to a pair of Final Four runs, including last season, six NCAA tournament appearances and three regular season conference titles. He went 246-125 there in what was his third coaching stop, following runs at Tennessee and Milwaukee.
There had been speculation in recent months that Bruce was going to retire. Some thought he was going to run for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, too, though he shut that down. Almost immediately after Bruce made his retirement official last month, Auburn announced its succession plan and hired Steven on a five-year deal. Steven has been on Bruces staff for years now as an assistant, and he played for his dad at Tennessee, too.
While Steven wasnt aware ahead of time, he said that Bruce and Cohen had been having conversations about this for years.
The Tigers, who will start the season out at No. 20 in the Associated Press preseason poll, will officially open their season on Nov. 3 against Bethune-Cookman. Their first true test will come against No. 2 Houston on Nov. 16.